Friday, December 31, 2010

Prefiled in the South Carolina by State Senators Lee Bright and Danny Verdin is Senate Bill 249 (S0249), the Firearms Freedom Act (FFA).

The bill states that:

A personal firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured commercially or privately in South Carolina and that remains within the borders of South Carolina is not subject to federal law or federal regulation, including registration, under the authority of Congress to regulate interstate commerce.

Since 2009, 8 states have passed similar legislation as law – Montana, Tennessee, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, Idaho, Alaska and Arizona.

More than 15,000 paintings and sketches created by over 1,300 American soldiers in the line of duty - in curatorial storage in Washington, D.C. for decades - these powerful works of art will be on display at the National Constitution Center from September 24, 2010 through March 31, 2011. The exhibition, featuring a never-before-seen collection, was created by the Center in partnership with the U.S. Army Center of Military History and the National Museum of the United States Army. Following its world debut at the Center, the exhibition will begin a national tour.

Openly gay, despite the then-existing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy that allowed him to remain in the Army, Manning had experienced rejection by a homosexual lover, declaring on his Facebook page that he was “livid” after being “lectured by ex-boyfriend.” . . .

. . . This is why the Armed Forces resisted Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell when it was first foisted on them. From long experience, both military and civilian intelligence personnel knew and understood that homosexuals were particularly vulnerable to blackmail and, even as attitudes changed toward the gay and lesbian population, their emotional stability remained open to question . . .

. . . It is why today’s frontline Marines in combat do not want to rely on homosexuals in their units, but the military has become so politically correct over the years that even an unstable Muslim Army major was allowed to serve until he killed thirteen servicemen and women at Fort Hood . . .

An intriguing comparison, when one considers that the only crime worse than murder is treason.

Read Nick Gillespie's essay, "The #1 Game-Changer of 2010: Wikileaks By a Landslide." The key point is that unlike the umpteen other purported "game-changing" news stories, WikiLeaks is genuinely new. And Gillespie argues the frequently heard point that WikiLeaks' impact goes far beyond one individual, such as Julian Assange. Beside that though is to what effect? What's the utility beyond the crazed anarchist's dream of sowing mayhem and destroying state operations, if not the state. We get that discussion at this Reason video, which features Eli Lake, Aaron David Miller, Steven Aftergood, and Heather Hurlburt (in that initial order).

It's a thoughtful clip, although there's a bit of romanticism at parts. I like Lake's comments on the immediate impact of simply generating greater knowledge of international actor behavior and interests. Miller's comments are both lyrical and penetrating. He suggests that the effects could be like footsteps on the beach, possibly washed away by the next big wave. Aftergood, who directs the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists, is matter-of-fact and to the point (and agreeable if not that animated), and, sorry, but I'm not learning much from Hurlburt.

What's just barely touched is the effect of WikiLeaks on the continued rise of anti-Americanism in the world. Eli Lake mentions this at the start of the clip, but the point gets lost at the remainder of the discussion. WikiLeaks has tightened the tacit alliance between the anarcho-libertarians and the neo-communist progressives. Nick Gillespie is a respectable guy, but the problem with libertarianism is that its adherents give cover for some of the most vile revolutionary doctrines now gaining increased respectability. See "WikiLeaks: The Revolutionary as Entrepreneur." More on that later. Meanwhile see my previous entries, "How Communists Exploit WikiLeaks," and "Exposing the WikiLeaks/Communist/Media Alliance."

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

This year for me the holidays involved closing on the house - thanks to my status as a 1099 contractor and the current state of the credit markets this turned out to be the single most difficult business transaction I have ever been involved in, bar none.

The rest of my Christmas break - the past couple of weeks - involved The Big Move; lifting furniture up and down stairs all day, Wifee's pottery operation (work benches, spinning wheels, boxes full of clay that weigh about 50lbs each, and not one but TWO kilns), all of my tools and work benches, the boat, the tractor, lifting and unpacking a thousand boxes and one of the most dreaded activities known to Man - hanging curtain rods.

Still it's all been worth it; we're in a FANTASTIC property in a GREAT location and as an added bonus this is the ONLY Christmastime where I have LOST ten pounds, versus the usual ten-to-fifteen weight gain.

Somewhere in between all of the above and a million trips back and forth to Lowe's, Daughter #1 and I were tooling down the road in the Fahrvergnügen;

"So, like, I friended him on Facebook and I let him friend me and then I downloaded some freewear and a bunch of share tunes on my iPod and then I checked in on My Sims and . . . blah, blah, blah . . ."

Suddenly a Close Encounter of the 70's Kind . . . a rare relic from the Decade of Disco:

"It's small, actually, by the standards of it's day. Look at that bumper."

"It's . . . it's . . ."

"It's chrome-plated, 8-gauge Detroit STEEL is what it is - not like the $2500 piece o' plastic they've got on these things we're rolling around in nowadays. You bump into that bumper, it'll TALK to ya . . ."

"Woah."

"225 cubic inch, slant-six, three on the tree . . . "

"You can tell all that just from looking at the TAILLIGHTS ? ? ? "

"Actually, yes I can."

"How . . . how can you DO that, Dad?"

"Because, Little Lady, that was back when cars were REAL . . . and I was THERE."

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

The Commanding Officer at the Russian Military Academy [the equivalent of a 4-star general in the U.S.] gave a lecture on Potential Problems and Military Strategy.

At the end of the lecture, he asked if there were any questions. An officer stood up and asked, “Will there be a third world war? And will Russia take part in it?”

The general answered both questions in the affirmative.

Another officer asked, “Who will be the enemy?”

The general replied, “All indications point to China.”

Everyone in the audience was shocked. A third officer remarked, “General, we are a nation of only 150 million, compared to the 1.5 billion Chinese Can we win at all, or even survive?”

The general answered, “Just think about this for a moment: In modern warfare, it is not the quantity of soldiers that matters, but the quality of an army’s capabilities. For example, in the Middle East we have had a few wars recently where 5 million Jews fought against 150 million Arabs, and Israel was always victorious.”

After a small pause, an officer from the back of the auditorium called out, “How many Jews do we have?”

If this were a real posting, you would be advised to fasten your seat belt; loosen all restrictive clothing - belts, neckties, shoes, etc.; bend over and place your head between your knees; and then kiss your *ss goodbye.

No it doesn't. Hydrogen combines with oxygen to produce HEAT and FLAME. This heat energy must somehow be converted to mechanical energy, to turn a generator to produce electricity - this task is typically accomplished by heating water into steam, to drive a turbine which in turn spins a generator, which is a big electric coil that produces electricity. Even nuclear power plants work this way.

The byproduct of the chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen is water - this is true. But where does the hydrogen come from?

Hydrogen exists in nature in the form of water - H2O, also known as 'dihydrogen monoxide' - DHMO. To extract the hydrogen from the water requires running an electric current through the water - a process known as 'electrolysis'.

So where does the electricity come from, to get the hydrogen to fuel the car?

Most electricity is produced by fossil fuel power plants. Most fossil fuel power plants burn coal; 80% of the electricity in North America is produced this way.

In other words, this hydrogen fuel cell car is no different than the electric car - the energy required to drive it is derived from good old-fashioned coal.

Ergo, to say that this car is pollution-free is like a man eating a steak saying he's a vegetarian by default, in that the cow he eats is a herbivore.

What I really want to know is how come all these "Car of the Future" cars always look like souped-up Prius's? EFF THAT. It's 2010 - when are we going to get THESE THINGS???

World War I had been raging for only four months; already proving to be one of the bloodiest wars in history. Soldiers on both sides were trapped in trenches, exposed to the cold and wet winter weather, covered in mud, and extremely careful of sniper shots. Machines guns had proven their worth in war, bringing new meaning to the word "slaughter."

In a place where bloodshed was nearly commonplace and mud and the enemy were fought with equal vigor, something surprising occurred on the front for Christmas in 1914. The men who lay shivering in the trenches embraced the Christmas spirit. In one of the truest acts of goodwill toward men, soldiers from both sides in the southern portion of the Ypres Salient set aside their weapons and hatred, if only temporarily, and met in No Man's Land.

Digging In

Though the Germans had made a strong offensive into France, French, Belgian, and British forces were able to halt them. However, since they were not able to push the Germans out of France, there was a stalemate and both sides dug into the earth creating a large network of trenches.

Once the trenches were built, winter rains tried to obliterate them. The rains not only flooded the dug-outs, they turned the trenches into mud holes - a terrible enemy in and of itself.

Mud lay deep in the trenches; they were caked from head to foot, and I have never seen anything like their rifles! Not one would work, and they were just lying about the trenches getting stiff and cold. One fellow had got both feet jammed in the clay, and when told to get up by an officer, had to get on all fours; he then got his hands stuck in too, and was caught like a fly on a flypaper; all he could do was look round and say to his pals, 'For Gawd's sake, shoot me!' I laughed till I cried. But they will shake down, directly they learn that the harder one works in the trenches, the drier and more comfortable one can keep both them and oneself.

The trenches of both sides were only a few hundred feet apart, buffered by a relatively flat area known as "No Man's Land." The stalemate had halted all but a scattered number of small attacks; thus, soldiers on each side spent a large amount of time dealing with the mud, keeping their heads down in order to avoid sniper fire, and watching carefully for any surprise enemy raids on their trench.

Fraternizing

Restless in their trenches, covered in mud, and eating the same rations every day, some soldiers began to wonder about the un-seen enemy, men declared monsters by propagandists.

We hated their guts when they killed any of our friends; then we really did dislike them intensely. But otherwise we joked about them and I think they joked about us. And we thought, well, poor so-and-so's, they're in the same kind of muck as we are.

The uncomfortableness of living in trenches coupled with the closeness of the enemy who lived in similar conditions contributed to a growing "live and let live" policy. Andrew Todd, a telegraphist of the Royal Engineers, wrote of an example in a letter:

Perhaps it will surprise you to learn that the soldiers in both lines of trenches have become very 'pally' with each other. The trenches are only 60 yards apart at one place, and every morning about breakfast time one of the soldiers sticks a board in the air. As soon as this board goes up all firing ceases, and men from either side draw their water and rations. All through the breakfast hour, and so long as this board is up, silence reigns supreme, but whenever the board comes down the first unlucky devil who shows even so much as a hand gets a bullet through it.

Sometimes the two enemies would yell at each other. Some of the German soldiers had worked in Britain before the war and asked about a store or area in England that an English soldier also knew well. Sometimes they would shout rude remarks to each other as a way of entertainment. Singing was also a common way of communication.

During the winter it was not unusual for little groups of men to gather in the front trench, and there hold impromptu concerts, singing patriotic and sentimental songs. The Germans did much the same, and on calm evenings the songs from one line floated to the trenches on the other side, and were there received with applause and sometimes calls for an encore.

Christmas at the Front

On December 7, 1914, Pope Benedict XV suggested a temporary hiatus of the war for the celebration of Christmas. Though Germany readily agreed, the other powers refused.

Even without a cessation of war for Christmas, family and friends of the soldiers wanted to make their loved ones' Christmas special. They sent packages filled with letters, warm clothing, food, cigarettes, and medications. Yet what especially made Christmas at the front seem like Christmas were the troves of small Christmas trees.

On Christmas Eve, many German soldiers put up Christmas trees, decorated with candles, on the parapets of their trenches. Hundreds of Christmas trees lighted the German trenches and although British soldiers could see the lights, it took them a few minutes to figure out what they were from. Could this be a trick? British soldiers were ordered not to fire but to watch them closely. Instead of trickery, the British soldiers heard many of the Germans celebrating.

Time and again during the course of that day, the Eve of Christmas, there were wafted towards us from the trenches opposite the sounds of singing and merry-making, and occasionally the guttural tones of a German were to be heard shouting out lustily, "A happy Christmas to you Englishmen!" Only too glad to show that the sentiments were reciprocated, back would go the response from a thick-set Clydesider, "Same to you, Fritz, but dinna o'er eat yourself wi' they sausages!"

In other areas, the two sides exchanged Christmas carols.

They finished their carol and we thought that we ought to retaliate in some way, so we sang 'The First Noël', and when we finished that they all began clapping; and then they struck up another favourite of theirs, 'O Tannenbaum'. And so it went on. First the Germans would sing one of their carols and then we would sing one of ours, until when we started up 'O Come All Ye Faithful' the Germans immediately joined in singing the same hymn to the Latin words 'Adeste Fidéles'. And I thought, well, this was really a most extraordinary thing - two nations both singing the same carol in the middle of a war.

The Christmas Truce

This fraternization on Christmas Eve and again on Christmas was in no way officially sanctified nor organized. Yet, in numerous separate instances down the front line, German soldiers began yelling over to their enemy, "Tommy, you come over and see us!" Still cautious, the British soldiers would rally back, "No, you come here!"

In some parts of the line, representatives of each side would meet in the middle, in No Man's Land.

We shook hands, wished each other a Merry Xmas, and were soon conversing as if we had known each other for years. We were in front of their wire entanglements and surrounded by Germans - Fritz and I in the centre talking, and Fritz occasionally translating to his friends what I was saying. We stood inside the circle like streetcorner orators.

Soon most of our company ('A' Company), hearing that I and some others had gone out, followed us . . . What a sight - little groups of Germans and British extending almost the length of our front! Out of the darkness we could hear laughter and see lighted matches, a German lighting a Scotchman's cigarette and vice versa, exchanging cigarettes and souvenirs. Where they couldn't talk the language they were making themselves understood by signs, and everyone seemed to be getting on nicely. Here we were laughing and chatting to men whom only a few hours before we were trying to kill!

Some of those who went out to meet the enemy in the middle of No Man's Land on Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day negotiated a truce: we won't fire if you won't fire. Some ended the truce at midnight on Christmas night, some extended it until New Year's Day.

One reason Christmas truces were negotiated was in order to bury the dead, many of whom had been there for several months. Along with the revelry that celebrated Christmas was the sad and somber job of burying their fallen comrades. On Christmas day, British and German soldiers appeared on No Man's Land and sorted through the bodies. In just a few rare instances, joint services were held for both the British and German dead.

Yet many soldiers enjoyed meeting the un-seen enemy and were surprised to discover that they were more alike than he had thought. They talked, shared pictures, exchanged items such as buttons for food stuffs. An extreme example of the fraternization was a soccer game played in the middle of No Man's Land between the Bedfordshire Regiment and the Germans. A member of the Bedfordshire Regiment produced a ball and the large group of soldiers played until the ball was deflated when it hit a barbed wire entanglement.

This strange and unofficial truce lasted for several days, much to the dismay of the commanding officers. This amazing showing of Christmas cheer was never again repeated and as World War I progressed, the story of Christmas 1914 at the front became something of a legend.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Waiting in line all day at two different government bureaucracies . . . all because I need a Pennsylvania state driver's license, so I won't be a VIOLATOR . . .

"Do you have two forms of ID?"

"Yes, here's my passport, and here's my US military ID."

"US military ID is no good."

"W-H-A-A-A-?-?-?"

"Because you don't have to be a US citizen to become a member of the US military."

"I know that - I wasn't a citizen when I signed up. But you can't be in twenty-plus years and make it to retirement without becoming a US citizen, and this is a RETIRED US military ID. And anyway, this is a US PASSPORT, right here."

"Sorry, you will need your Social Security card, to get a Pennsylvania state driver’s license."

"My SOCIAL SECURITY CARD ? ? ? I haven't seen hide nor hair of THAT thing since before I joined the Army! And it doesn't even have a photograph on it, signature, nothing. Come to think of it, you don’t need to be a US citizen to get a Social Security number, anyway. I wasn’t, when I got mine. Besides, this US military ID card has my Social Security number ON IT."

"Sorry, sir; but you can join the US military without being a US citizen . . ."

Next stop, the Social Security Administration. That actually wasn't so bad - once you get over the government propaganda being transmitted over a 65-inch plasmatron, and the WAITING. They had The Social Security Story going in a fifteen-minute loop, so I got to watch of how FDR and Social Security saved America from the Great Depression about eight times over. This makes me wonder, of course, if putting people on the government dole is what it takes to get an economy out of the doldrums, then why don't we put EVERYBODY on the government payroll - we'll be back on track to being the greatest, richest, most powerful society in the history of the world, times ten million. Funny thing is, I thought World War II had something to do with it, and of course there was no mention of Social Security being a giant Ponzi scheme - but what do I know? I'm a philosopher, not an economist.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

I was asked if I have any opinions or thoughts on the new nuclear START treaty - which looks like it will be ratified today - that it would be interesting to know if there is anything about the treaty that the media has missed.

Of course, this is predicated on the notion that I have actually READ the thing - and quite honestly over the past week-plus Daze of Confusion of moving into the new Villa de Tempest . . .

. . . I seem to have mislaid my courtesy copy of the treaty that the Senate shot over to me. So I consulted the greatest living American philosopher - Rush Limbaugh - and surprisingly enough his thoughts on the matter mirror mine exactly: any treaty with the Russians isn't worth the paper it's written on.

To quote the Great Ronaldus Magnus:

"Trust, but Verify . . ."

While we're on it, the same crowd was asking me to chime in on the whole Don't Ask Don't Tell scenario and I deferred - on the grounds that this is not directly related to national security - but just for the record let me say that I have no problem with homosexuals serving openly in the military . . .

To put this thing into perspective for my North American brethren: 13° Celsius is a brisk 55° Fahrenheit. This is unheard of at the height of a Sydney summer, where temperatures average around 80°F (26.66°C) and can get as high as 93°F (33.89°C).

While we're on the subject of Frozen Aussie - I've been trying to figure a way to segue that OTHER infamous Australian International - we're talking about this Julian Assange character . . . the waif-like girlie-man behind the Wikileaks thingie . . .

WikiLeaker Julian Assange holds up a copy of the Guardian at his latest staged propaganda event I mean press conference in Norfolk, England.

WikiLeaker Julian Assange today launched a wide ranging series of attacks on both his enemies and allies as he defended his public and private conduct.

In his first UK newspaper interview since releasing hundreds of secret diplomatic cables last month, Mr Assange told The Times he predicts the US will face reprisals if it attempts to extradite him on conspiracy charges.

He accused his media partners at The Guardian newspaper, which worked with him to make the embarrassing leaks public, of unfairly tarnishing him by revealing damaging details of the sex assault allegations he faces in Sweden.

Let me see if I have this right? This scrawny super-computer geek figures out a way to hack into everything secret . . . then he comes to the brilliant conclusion that it's in the world's best interest to blow our secrets out to all our enemies, foreign and domestic - no matter the damage to national security, no matter how many innocent lives may be lost in the process . . . then when HE's got a secret he'd like to keep in the closet, he cries like a frikkin' baby . . .

Sounds like a classic case of "WHAT's GOOD FOR THE GOOSE IS GOOD FOR THE GANDER!!!" if you ask me . . .

Ha, ha - he's freezing his ass off in Norfolk, looks like he could use a steak - and he's looking some serious DOWN TIME right in the eye - Ha, ha, Julian - SUCKS TO BE YOU, BOY.

On a more serious note . . . today's Tuesday and so we have a Tuesday Tart to share with you . . .

Sunday, December 19, 2010

They're hooked us up on Internet noon, today. Fear not, STORMBRINGERs - I WILL feature a Monday Mystery Bird for tomorrow. Oh yes, I will . . .

In the meantime here is a post I've been working on all day, in between unloading PODs and running around on errands:

Steve from Wisconsin commented on yesterday's post IT ISN'T TIME TO PANIC YET . . . He made a good point: "canaries in the coal mine" are a dime a dozen, but what can a person actually DO to affect change?

This is a good opportunity to point out that Blog Stormbringer is not a political blog; I only ever got political concerning matters of National Security. That changed of course when I learned of THIS guy:

Furthermore, despite the intended compliment associating me with Glenn Beck; I am not a canary in a coal mine - I am a sheepdog.

This Blog is a hobby and a side issue (if it was a commercial enterprise it would be a lot more successful, I can assure you). I described this when I interviewed myself, way back when Blog Stormbringer started, about a year after I retired from active duty:

Nowadays I work in the security field and what I do is directly related to national security. That's what I do, that's my bit for God and Country; I don't go the political route - never been involved in politics and don't intend to.

Back to the reader's comments:

"We have too much of a Carter style malaise amongst the conservatives . . . may be its due to us working our tushies off and we are too tired to fight the good fight.

"What I would like to see or hear is a list of "steps to follow to protect MY hinny". Every thing that I read from conservative blogs revolves around the nation and how to save the nation. I agree with all of those thoughts and fundamental ideals. And we need that practical discourse to educate folks on how this great country should run.

"So I would like to see somebody giving us a top ten list of things that we can do to affect our personal bubbles of influence.

"I realize sounding the alarm is a heck of a lot more fun than the down and dirty task of changing our society. But I think we are at a phase in our conservative "hope and change" odyssey; where we have to identify the next step.

"And I think this idea goes beyond the survivalist dogma of "bug out bags".

"Actually, we need a couple of lists: the first one should be personal, ie: getting out of debt, refinancing your home, learning how to live within your means. And the second list could be about the things you could do locally in your municipal governments and/or your schools.

"I for one, will be checking into hooking up with our states election board. I hope to be instrumental in researching the validity of voters addresses. This may turn out to be like a fart in the wind; but at least "I'm doing something".

"Lets continue to alert folks about the foolishness that occurs in Washington. But lets also, begin the conversation about how to deal with AO (After Obama)!"

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Now they're saying the Internet & cable will be up & running tomorrow sometime.

Quite honestly I haven't missed it, except I can't post the Babes of Stormbringer on the backside link there - that's something I'll have to work on when the Good Ship Stormbringer finally pulls out of dry dock.

In the meantime hang in there - we had our best day ever this past Wednesday - almost 7000 site visits - still trying to figure out what the h*ll went wrong there . . .

Things are bad out there but we haven't hit the stage of total breakdown of society . . . YET

When that time arrives, I'll say, "You, you, you, and you; panic. The rest of you, these are your instructions . . ."

In the meantime, here is an introspective read:

London was gripped by massive demonstrations over cuts to university funding earlier this week. Both police and protesters were injured. Prince Charles' car was assaulted. The riots were sparked by the government's decision to raise maximum university tuition rates, although the top rate still works out to only about $15,000 in American dollars per year. A disgusted cabbie told Time it was "the sort of thing they do in France."

He's right about that. France was paralyzed by massive strikes and demonstrations in October, brought on by the government's decision to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62.

After London, we saw a somewhat more restrained set of riots in Rome . . . once again prompted, in part, by cuts to university funding.

Things got much worse in Greece on Wednesday, as a massive general strike degenerated into violence. Rioters trashed cars and threw firebombs to protest "austerity measures." A post office was set on fire. Back in May, rioters in Athens killed three people when they burned down a bank.

We're a little behind the European curve, but then, we haven't started implementing "austerity measures" yet. Far from it – the Democrats just dropped a trillion-dollar omnibus bill in our laps, which doesn't cut a dime from the outrageous spending that got them pounded in the midterm elections. The sole form of "fiscal restraint" understood by their party is tax increases.

Well, 90 percent of our deficit is due to spending. There is no possible way to tax ourselves out of that hole, any more than England, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Spain, or Portugal could.

Margaret Thatcher once observed that "the trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money."

FORT MEADE, Md. – An Army doctor who disobeyed orders to deploy to Afghanistan because he questioned President Barack Obama's eligibility to be commander in chief was sentenced by a jury Thursday to six months in a military prison and will be dismissed from the Army.

Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin was convicted of disobeying orders — he had pleaded guilty to that count — and missing a flight that would have gotten him to his eventual deployment. An army commander, Maj. Gen. Karl Horst, still has to approve the sentence returned by the jury and has the option to reduce it. Lakin could then appeal.

In online videos posted on YouTube, Lakin aligned himself with the so-called "birther" movement that questions whether Obama is a natural-born citizen, as the Constitution requires for presidents, and said he was inviting his own court martial.

But Lakin said Wednesday that despite his questions about Obama's eligibility for office, he was wrong not to follow Army orders. He acknowledged that the Army was the wrong place to raise his concerns about Obama, asked to keep his job and said he was now willing to deploy.

"I don't want it to end this way," Lakin told the jury Wednesday under questioning from his lawyer. "I want to continue to serve."

Military prosecutors disagreed. On Thursday morning, a military prosecutor asked the jury to sentence Lakin to at least two years in a military prison and to dismiss him from the service. It was a sentence he "invited and he earned," military prosecutor Capt. Philip J. O'Beirne told the jury.

The prosecutor said Lakin had other options such as resigning or asking not to be deployed if he had issues with his orders. Instead, he used his deployment earlier this year as a political ploy, O'Beirne said, going to great lengths to create a "spectacle" by informing people of what he was doing.

"He knew exactly what he was doing and he did it anyway," O'Beirne told the jury, asking members to send a message with their sentence and telling them they could "write the headline" that appears in papers about Lakin.

But Lakin's defense attorney, Neal Puckett, asked the jury to be lenient, calling Lakin's case unique. He described the 17-year veteran as giving, compassionate and patriotic but also naive in trusting the poor advice of a previous civilian lawyer. He called Lakin the "victim of an obsession," referring to questions about Obama's eligibility, and said he made "one bad decision on one day of his career."

Puckett asked the jury to consider Lakin's wife and three children at Christmas and said he should be allowed to stay in the Army because of his value as a doctor.

"Make him work off his debt to the Army," Puckett said, suggesting Lakin could be sent on multiple deployments.

COMMENT: "Life is hard. It's harder if you're stupid." -John Wayne

This guy was so cocksure, full of himself and set in his convictions until reality set in and now he's crying like a stuck pig. To hell with letting him work off his sentence - this guy is unreliable; I wouldn't want him anywhere near me in a combat zone. He should have thought about the welfare of his wife & kids BEFORE taking a stand. It's called choosing your battles. - SEAN LINNANE SENDS
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Friday, December 17, 2010

Still in the middle of the final phase of the Move From Hell: camping out in a three-story hooch full of cardboard boxes and disassembled furniture - still no cable or Internet - this is really cramping my style - the neighbors must think we're Jewish or maybe Jehovah's Witnesses or something; no Christmas decorations up yet, its looking like its going to be one of those Christmases to Remember.

Still, we're warm & safe; we have shelter from the first storm of the year.

There's a team of STORMBRINGERS out there sending me stuff - this ones from Tom (formerly of Boomers and BS). Normally I'd delve into this, derive a post - given the current circumstances, I'm posting this in its entirety:

Joe wrote a pretty nice one on some of modern culture. Agree with him or not, he writes well, and I reckon you'd probably agree more than not.

Remember, I don't agree with him on a lot of things, but it's a hell of a RANT.

I shall be a capitalist till I die, and have been ever since I bought my first tools to make money with.

But the lack of thought by the populace is a bit of a problem, and he misses on the fact that the people on his side of the fence have a habit of looking the other way when Soros is being a pr*ck instead of a member of the republican party or libertarians like myself.

If you have ever pondered that question, here are some examples / reasons:

1. Chicago Cubs outfielder Andre Dawson on being a role model: "I wan' all dem kids to do what I do, to look up to me. I wan' all the kids to copulate me."

2. New Orleans Saint RB George Rogers when asked about the upcoming season: "I want to rush for 1,000 or 1,500 yards, whichever comes first."

3. And, upon hearing Joe Jacobi of the 'Skin's say: "I'd run over my own mother to win the Super Bowl," Matt Millen of the Raiders said: "To win, I'd run over Joe's Mom, too."

4. Torrin Polk, University of Houston receiver, on his coach, John Jenkins: "He treats us like men. He lets us wear earrings.."

5. Football commentator and former player Joe Theismann: "Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein."

6. Senior basketball player at West Virginia University : "I'm going to graduate on time, no matter how long it takes." (Now that is just beautiful!)

7. Bill Peterson, a Florida State football coach: "You guys line up alphabetically by height.." And, "You guys pair up in groups of three,and then line up in a circle."

8. Boxing promoter Dan Duva on Mike Tyson going to prison: "Why would anyone expect him to come out smarter? He went to prison for three years, not Princeton. "

9. Stu Grimson, Chicago Blackhawks left wing, explaining why he keeps a color photo of himself above his locker: "That's so when I forget how to spell my name, I can still find my clothes."

10. Lou Duva, veteran boxing trainer, on the Spartan training regime of heavyweight Andrew Golota: "He's a guy who gets up at six o'clock in the morning, regardless of what time it is."

11. Chuck Nevitt , North Carolina State basketball player, explaining to Coach Jim Valvano why he appeared nervous at practice: "My sister's expecting a baby, and I don't know if I'm going to be an uncle or an aunt." (I wonder if his IQ ever hit room temperature in January!)

12. Frank Layden , Utah Jazz president, on a former player: "I told him, Son, what is it with you? Is it ignorance or apathy?' He said, 'Coach, I don't know and I don't care.'"

13. Shelby Metcalf, basketball coach at Texas A&M, recounting what he told a player who received four F's and one D: "Son, looks to me like you're spending too much time on one subject."

14. In the words of NC State great Charles Shackelford: "I can go to my left or right, I am amphibious."

15. Amarillo High School and Oiler coach Bum Phillips when asked by Bob Costas why he takes his wife on all the road trips, Phillips responded: "Because she is too damn ugly to kiss good-bye."

Thursday, December 16, 2010

A READER WRITES: "Hi, I just came across your blog yesterday and I find it very entertaining. Recently I've been reading a lot about the Army, specifically Rangers and Delta Force. Now, word on the web is that for Delta, life expectancy of an operator drops to about 49% in the span of 6 years, that one can only be in Delta for around 6 years due to becoming mentally drained, and, if you're one of the lucky half to survive all 6 years, your physical health rapidly deteriorates in the process.

"I can't say that I believe or disbelieve these statements because they do appear to hold some degree of sense, however, as I'm sure you know, the Internet is very unreliable in general, let alone about something as secretive as Delta.So I come to you, since it would seem to have a knowledge on this sort of stuff but also have connections to people who may possess some degree of awareness on the subject.

"In other words, do you by any chance know whether or not any of that is true?"

"Thank you for your time, -J.A."

********************************

Dear J:I don't know where you're getting this six-year statistic from; the sergeant-major in my last operational unit was in CAG from mid-eighties until late nineties - more than ten years. I've known several guys like that.

Now I can't say much about Delta because I wasn't in the CAG but I can assure you The Unit is VERY physically challenging but not necessarily more than any other combat arms MOS - just in different ways. They don't have the mind-numbing, daily grind of back-breaking, soul-killing tasks. Hell, they have support choagees to tote & carry their bags; they don't even clean their own weapons.

Soldiering is hard work no matter what outfit you're in - at least as hard as professional football, lumberjacking or rodeo cowboying. Unless you take a bad wound, our long-term injuries tend to be knees, lower back (working & marching with 80+ lbs worth of kit starts to wear on you after ten or twenty years in the harness).

I knew a guy who retired as Command Sergeant Major, 82d Airborne Division. Charlie Thorpe went from private to First Sergeant in A Co/1st 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, with only a two year break to do drill sergeant duty. The man was harder than woodpecker lips. I guarantee you a tour as a grunt in Division is as hard if ot harder on the body than a tour in Special Operations.

Me? I was still on a Special Forces Operational Detachment at age 45 - still loading ammo cans up onto the GunVee, still jumping out of planes & helicopters, still running around with 80 lbs worth of lightweight gear strapped to my body. Nowadays my back & my knees are talking to me, let me tell you. My ears are blown out, I've got this weird skin rash I picked up in Bosnia, have more dead friends than living and I have to deal with the demons inside my skull.

Other than that I'm ready willing and able to drive on for the next 20 years - going into my third year of contracting and let me tell you I'll take a hard-charging paratrooper or Marine lance corporal on my team any day over a whining, spoiled rotten prima donna Spec Ops guy who's got better things to do than bust ass on a job that more often than not includes mundane tasks like pulling maintenance on the vehicles or maybe doing the obligatory goat-grab with your indig' counterparts.

On a chain of beautiful deserted islands in the middle of South Pacific, the following people are stranded:

* Two Italian men and one Italian woman.

* Two French men and one French woman.

* Two German men and one German woman.

* Two Greek men and one Greek woman.

* Two British men and one British woman.

* Two Bulgarian men and one Bulgarian woman.

* Two Japanese men and one Japanese woman.

* Two Chinese men and one Chinese woman.

* Two Irish men and one Irish woman.

* Two American men and one American woman.

One month later, on these absolutely stunning deserted islands in the middle of nowhere, the following things have occurred:

* One Italian man killed the other Italian man for the Italian woman.

* The two French men and the French woman are living happily together in a 'menage a trois'.

* The two German men have a strict weekly schedule of alternating visits with the German woman.

* The two Greek men are sleeping together and the Greek woman is cooking and cleaning for them.

* The two British men are waiting for someone to introduce them to the British woman.

* The two Bulgarian men took one look at the Bulgarian woman and started swimming to another island.

* The two Japanese have faxed Tokyo and are awaiting instructions.

* The two Chinese men have set up a pharmacy, liquor store, restaurant, and laundry, and have gotten the woman pregnant in order to provide more employees for their stores.

* The two Irish men have divided the island in half and have set up a distillery. They do not remember if sex is in the picture because it gets somewhat foggy after a few pints of coconut whiskey. However, they are satisfied because the British are not having any fun.

* The two American men are contemplating suicide because the American woman will not shut up !! -- and complains relentlessly about her body, the true nature of feminism, what the sun is doing to her skin, how she can do anything they can do, the necessity of fulfillment, the equal division of household chores, how sand and palm trees make her look fat, how her last boyfriend respected her opinion and treated her nicer than they do, and how her relationship with her mother is the root cause of all her problems, and why didn't they bring a damn cell phone so they could call 911 and get them all rescued off this god-forsaken deserted island in the middle of freaking nowhere so she can get her nails done and go shopping for a pair of new sandals.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

DAY THREE of moving in - we're in but still no Internet or cable . . . I'm still cranking these posts out via DingleBerry . . . we still have two shipping containers to unload and a ton of stuff to go into every room of this place . . . I remember I bought my first house when I came back from Okinawa in 1993 for $65,000 and I thought it was a palace . . . at that time they were selling houses for $80,000 in my neighborhood and I thought I'd NEVER be in that league . . . Then when I came back from Stuttgart in '05 they were selling houses in my neck of the woods for $200,000 and I thought 'That's TOO MUCH to pay for a house!'

If you'd a-told me then what I was going to be paying for a house and could afford now, you could have knocked me over with a feather.

The funny thing is, it isn't that much bigger than that first place I bought back in '93. It IS a nice house though.

The other funny thing is a place I was SERIOUSLY considering was a trailer with a deck down by the river, for $50,000 . . . what Theo refers to as the Perfect Bloggers House . . . AND I could have lived 100% off my retirement . . .

Sergeant Sheena Adams (R) US Marine with the FET (Female Engagement Team) 1st Battalion 8th Marines, Regimental Combat team II comforts an Afghan translator (L) who was crying after hearing about the death of a fellow marine on November 16, 2010 in Musa Qala, Afghanistan. There are 48 women presently working along the volatile front lines of the war in Afghanistan deployed as the second Female Engagement team participating in a more active role, gaining access where men can't. The women, many who volunteer for the 6.5 month deployment take a 10 week course at Camp Pendleton in California where they are trained for any possible situation, including learning Afghan customs and basic Pashtun language.⁠

". . . Leaders are made, they are not born; and they are made just like anything else has been made in this country - by hard effort. And that's the price we all have to pay to achieve that goal or any goal.

". . . And despite of what we say about being born equal, none of us really are born equal, but rather unequal. And yet the talented are no more responsible for their birthright than the underprivileged. And the measure of each should be what each does in a specific situation.

" . . . It is becoming increasingly difficult to be tolerant of a society who has sympathy only for the misfits, only for the maladjusted, only for the criminal, only for the loser. Have sympathy for them, help them, but I think it is also time for all of us to stand up for and to cheer for the doer, the achiever, one who recognizes a problem and does something about it, one who looks at something extra to do for hid country, the winner, the leader!"

- Vince Lombardi - American philosopher and football coach, June 11, 1913 – September 3, 1970